Football Falls One Yard Short of Victory, 24-19, at DePauw

You can't get much closer to a victory without getting one as
the Bulldogs (2-4) were one yard away from the go-ahead touchdown
on Saturday afternoon at unbeaten DePauw University (6-0) with 12
seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs handed the ball off to
Jeremy Southworth on third and fourth down from the one-yard line
but he could not break the goal line in a 23-19 defeat.

Adrian began the fourth quarter down 17-10 and DePauw increased
their lead to 23-10 at the 14:15 mark of the fourth quarter as Alex
Koors caught his second touchdown of the game from Michael Engle
from two yards out. The extra point was then blocked by the
Bulldogs.

Adrian drove the ball on their next possession to the DePauw
29-yard line but misfired on four straight passes to hand the ball
over to the Tigers with 11:39 remaining. The Bulldog defense forced
a three-and-out and gave the ball back to the offense at the AC
39-yard line. It took the Bulldogs just three plays to find the end
zone as Mike McGee completed a three-yard pass to D'ante Thompson
and then a 15-yard pass to Justin Hemm down to the DePauw 43. McGee
followed that with a 43-yard touchdown strike to Jared Edwards
which cut the deficit to 23-17 with nine minutes left.

The Tigers looked like they were going to make it a
two-possession game on their next drive as they marched 41 yards in
nine plays down to the Adrian 13. Eric Malm attempted a 31-yard
field goal which hit the left upright giving Adrian the ball at the
20-yard line with 4:31 to go.

The Bulldogs put themselves into position to possibly take the
lead on their next drive as McGee completed three passes to move
the ball to the Tiger 40. Edwards carried the ball for 23 yards
down to the 17 inside the red zone. On the next play, Adrian turned
it over for the only time in the game as Hemm caught a pass at the
line of scrimmage and fumbled on a hit from Ryan Preuss which was
recovered by DePauw's Ryan Huffman with 2:59 on the clock.

DePauw had a penalty for a personal foul after the fumble and
then started their drive at their own 11. The Bulldog defense
yielded just one yard and DePauw was forced to punt. The Tigers
took a safety to make the score 23-19. On the free kick, Edwards
returned it 23 yards to the Adrian 47 to start the final drive at
2:24.

McGee found Hemm twice on the drive for 12 and 22 yards getting
the ball down to the DU 9. Edwards carried for five yards down to
the four and the Bulldogs called their last timeout with 37 ticks
left. Southworth then carried for no gain on third down and got
inches away on fourth down.

Adrian outgained DePauw, 360-321, in total offense as McGee
completed 22-of-38 for 265 yards and two scores. Edwards led the
ground game with 22 carries for 80 yards. Hemm caught eight passes
for 93 yards. Engle was 28-of-39 for 260 yards and two scores for
the Tigers. Koors caught eight passes for 96 yards and both
touchdowns through the air. AC was 9-of-18 on third down but 0-of-3
on fourth down. Logan Mitseff connected on a 45-yard field goal in
the second quarter. Danny Taylor led the defense with 12 tackles
while Chris Cook added 11 stops from his safety position.